India’s claim that “normalcy” has returned to Indian illegally occupied Jammu & Kashmir (IIOJK) rests on a carefully curated image rather than the lived experience of its people. Since August 2019, when New Delhi revoked the region’s limited autonomy under Article 370, New Delhi has repeatedly showcased statistics on tourism, infrastructure, and elections to suggest stability. Yet normalcy measured through surface-level indicators ignores the political, psychological, and human costs borne by a population living under extraordinary control. In Kashmir, calm has not emerged organically; it has been engineered.

The scale of militarization alone challenges any honest notion of democratic normalcy. With around one million Indian troops deployed for a civilian population of roughly 14 million, Kashmir has one of the highest soldier-to-civilian ratios in the world, surpassing even active conflict zones. Military camps, bunkers, and checkpoints dominate both urban centers and rural landscapes. Routine movement often involves identity checks, surveillance, and night raids, while cordon-and-search operations remain common. Such an environment does not simply ensure security; it reshapes civilian life around constant visibility and vulnerability. Democracy cannot meaningfully function where public space itself is militarized.